By Dr. Nancy Watson

Our National Parks

Every National Park tells a story, from breathtaking landscapes and ancient forests to historic landmarks that preserve our shared past.  Each visit offers a chance to pause and reflect, to feel gratitude for what endures and to witness how nature and history together remind us of the beauty  worth protecting.

Our National Parks

Recent Posts

Frederick Douglas National Historic Site – Washington DC

Frederick Douglas National Historic Site – Washington DC

When we travel for business, we always hope to explore something nearby, whether it be the nature of something historic. There is something grounding about stepping outside the seminar room and into the story of a place. We look for something special, something that belongs uniquely to that area. Frederick Douglas’ home was one of those […]

March 2026
Bryce Canyon National Park – Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park – Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southern Utah on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, with elevations ranging from 8,000 to over 9,00 feet. Despite its name, it is not a canon formed by a river. Instead, it is a series of natural amphitheaters carved into the edge of a plateau through erosion. The park is best […]

March 2026
Castle Clinton National Monument – New York

Castle Clinton National Monument – New York

Castle Clinton sits at the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park, layered with nearly two centuries of American history in a circular stone structure. Originally constructed between 1808 and 18111, it was built as a coastal fort to defend New York Harbor during tensions leading up to the War of 1812. At that time, it sood […]

March 2026
Cape Lookout National Seashore – North Carolina

Cape Lookout National Seashore – North Carolina

Cape Lookout National Seashore stretches along the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina, protecting 56 miles of underdeveloped barrier islands. It feels wonderfully remote where ocean, dunes and marsh create a landscape that moves with the wind and tide. The seashore was authorized by Congress in 1966 and officially established in 1976, preserving the fragile barrier […]

March 2026
Craters of the Moon National Monument – Idaho

Craters of the Moon National Monument – Idaho

Another solo driving tour took me through Idaho. There were early mornings on those roads when the light stretched across open land and I found myself wishing someone else could see what I was seeing. Some landscapes feel almost too vast to keep to yourself. I knew there was no way I could fully describe it. […]

March 2026
Dinosaur National Monument – Colorado

Dinosaur National Monument – Colorado

When I visited Dinosaur National Monument, I couldn’t help but think of all the young boys who come into our office talking about dinosaurs. They know the names and, and to them, dinosaurs are larger than life. Standing inside this monument, I realized how unforgettable it would be for them to see the real thing. […]

March 2026
Minute Man National Park – Massachusetts

Minute Man National Park – Massachusetts

On numerous acres stretches Minute Man National Historical Park. As a Massachusetts resident, we have visited this park several times. The park encompasses approximately 1,000 acres across the towns of Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, preserving the landscape of April 19, 1775. This date was the opening day of the American Revolution. It was established as a National […]

February 2026
Wright Brothers National Memorial – North Carolina

Wright Brothers National Memorial – North Carolina

When visiting the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Erin and I spent a day at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the very place where powered flight first lifted off the plane and changed human history. Set in Kill Devil Hills, the memorial preserves the windswept dunes where Wilbur and Oliver Wright achieved the world’s first successful, […]

February 2026
White Sands National Park – New Mexico

White Sands National Park – New Mexico

White Sands is one of those landscapes that feels almost otherworldly as there is wave after wave of white dunes stretching across the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico. What surprised us most was these dunes are not sand but are made of gypsum. Gypsum is a soft mineral that usually dissolves in water, but here, because of the […]

February 2026
Tuzigoot National Monument – Arizona

Tuzigoot National Monument – Arizona

Rising above the Verde Valley in Central Arizona, Tuzigoot National Monument is one of those places where the land and the past feel inseparable.   Tuzigoot preserves the remains of a large prehistoric settlement constructed by the Sinagua people, who lived in this region between the 1100s and early 1400s. Over time, what began as a smaller cluster of […]

February 2026
Sandy Hook Lighthouse/Gateway Recreation – New Jersey

Sandy Hook Lighthouse/Gateway Recreation – New Jersey

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is an extraordinary landmark along the Atlanta coast because of its age and the countless ships it has guided safely past the shoreline for more than two and a half centuries. Standing at the tip of Sandy Hook in New Jersey, within Gateway National Recreation Area, the lighthouse was first lit in 1764, […]

February 2026
Pony Express National Historic Trail – Nebraska

Pony Express National Historic Trail – Nebraska

In the wide-open landscapes of the American West, communication was once slow, uncertain, and often perilous. Long before telegraph wires stretched across the continent, letters were the only way to stay connected across the plains, deserts and mountain ranges. Carrying the mail by horseback became one of the boldest experiments in frontier logistics ever attempted. This […]

February 2026